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Business banking

steve hawing

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103
As im only kind of still new on the go I have just been using my personal account but i want to get around to opening a business one adn do it right, do many of you use your personal one I suppose it could be used ok and theres no fees to it really or is there better deals or ways of doing it? It is in my head now as i came across an add online for santander free banking anyone use these? Are they free as im sure theres a catch

 
if you add up the fees over a year for having a business account they amount to the price of a decent holiday . think on

 
People pay me by paypal or bacs if jot cash

Paypal is fine as no need for business account

Bacs i keep to a minimum and use one of my personal accounts

 
if you add up the fees over a year for having a business account they amount to the price of a decent holiday . think on
Southend is not considered a decent holiday. /emoticons/tongue.png

We have just opened a new business bank account which is fee free for the first 18 months then £15 per month there after.

The trap of using your personal account is that if HMRC decide to take an interest in your business then every single transaction on the account is scrutinized right from your Tescos shopping to which adult movie channels you subscribe to.

Should they freeze your account whilst investigating it can play hell on all your direct debits etc.

If you want to stay with using a 'personal' account then simply open another one with your bank and use that exclusively for the company and then keep your existing one just for yourself.

 
I have been using the santander business account for several years. It was the Alliance and Leicester account before. And offered free business banking for life. There are some limits but I have no chance of reaching them. And you do need to stay in credit.

On of the best things is you can pay in cash and cheques at any post office. And they are open a lot longer than banks.

Not sure if this account is still available but it is very easy.

Good luck.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

 
i ran a business account and yes the £15 per month seems reasonable but thats jus a sprat to catch a mackerel -when you add on the other day-to-day charges you will normally be paying 60 + per month even if you run a modest business . iv been there n dun it!

if you cant have a decent holiday for 800quid then its a poor show

as said by green,if you are going to run your business thru a personal account its wise to keep it strictly for business use .

my opinion is that id only open a business account if i wanted to take advantage of the banks business services,loans overdraft etc , not for any holy-joe reason. its not illegal to run a business thru a personal account by the way

 
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No Boars, certainly not illegal but I have heard instances where the banks have 'withdrawn' services when they have cottoned on to what the tradesman is doing and insisted that they open a business account which of course can be conquered by opening another account with another provider, just hassle in my opinion.

 
Benn there done it, went back to personal account, no fees, simple and easier. Hated business account, charges are ridiculous

 
I think it depends on how your business is set up, assuming your a sole-trader a personal account is fine. If you are a limited company then you need a non-personal account. But don't hold me to that!

 
P.s. If you are going for a business account, get the right one for you. Mines free at the moment, but when its no-longer free I have options, some have lower charges for cash/cheques and higher for bacs/online payments and vice versa. Charges are around the 1% mark for the lower and 2/3% for the higher. Personally I am hoping using a business account will help the business build up some kind of credit history for the business if ever I wish to take a loan out against it in the future for growth. Yes I am limited.

 
I am in the same boat as you Bumpy, we filed today with Companies House for Ltd registration.

It's all well and good being a sole trader but I'm not willing to risk all my personal assets on one over zealous law suit should it ever happen. (don't get me wrong I know in some cases HMRC can still go after an individual even if it was a LTD company)

I plan to sell the company one day down the road so it is a business bank account for us, build credit history, put it all in good stead and keep it totally separate from home life so when the time comes to sell and a buyer does their due diligence everything is in good order.

After all I am not planning to sell a round as I usually would but the entire business, name, assets and all.

 

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